Value Determination of a Local Development Fund in Dessel

Calculation of a compensation fund for discomfort caused by the construction of a
nuclear waste facility in Dessel

NIRAS (Nationale Instelling voor Radioactief Afval en verrijkte Splijtstoffen)
is planning the construction of a new storage for low radioactive nuclear waste
in
the municipality of Dessel. Via the partnerships STORA and MONA, the municipalities
Dessel and Mol have imposed a number of additional conditions to preserve the
quality of life of the local population. One of these conditions is creating a fund for local
development, which serves as a compensation for the possible inconveniences
caused by
the site.

In order to evaluate a specific scenario (here the development of the nuclear
waste facility), a comparison with another
scenario is necessary. As the first stage of the project, the situation with
and without storage (do-nothing-scenario) was described, thus assuming an
optimum, but still
realistic development in the period 2008-2058. The development of an SME zone
on the site intended for the storage was taken as an optimum for the situation
without storage. An option where this area would become a residential area has
been examined as well, but this appeared to result in no higher appreciation.
Then TML looked at the possible methods to reach an appreciation. The conclusion
was that ideally all effects should be listed because of feasibility and
transparency.
The identified effects are, in order of importance:

Reduction of distance to work for inhabitants of Mol and Dessel by
creating jobs nearby

Loss of municipality taxes

Health effects

Congestion and infrastructure costs

The last 2 effects represent no more than 2% of the total. It has been considered to
include subjective effects, but no indication was found of their presence.
TML also looked at more realistic development scenarios, from which it appeared
that the chance that the presence of the storage facility produces an advantage for the
municipalities is larger than vice-versa. The objective however was a
calculation of maximized minimum-compensation, as a result of which the scenario
choice has been carried out.

In a second part of the study, it has been discussed how one could build up
the capital of the fund for local development, with discussion of the risks for
fund administrators and sponsors.